Singapore ravers take back the night

Singapore's raving review - 10th April 2023

With their strobe lights, booming speakers and mindless bouncing back and forth, raves offer an escape for many young people around the world. For young Singaporeans, these electronic dance parties provide an opportunity to forget about their society’s rules and expectations.

During the pandemic, Singapore banned festivals, live music events and nightclubs for two years. Officers in red shirts patrolled neighbourhoods, enforcing the rules. However, the city’s nightlife has since returned with a bang.

Young adults from across the city gather in unique locations, like Haw Par Villa – a hell themed amusement park. At night, its culture courtyard’s transformed into a hot house packed with enthusiastic partygoers moving in time with sick beats and electronic dance anthems.

According to Loy, a 23-year-old soldier by day and raver by night, "Now, everyone's revenge partying. The Covid policies here were just so insane."

Music journalist Kevin Ho says rave culture questions the stereotypical image of Singapore as a "rich country with lots of rules". Instead, he argues the dance parties reflect a truer vision of the city as a "crossroads of Asia."

Ravers aren't easily recognised during the day. The counter-culture activity attracts a diverse crowd, from migrant workers to digital nomads. Young ravers are attracted by cheap admission fees, quality drinks and the loud, fun music.

However, organising a rave is no easy task, as navigating Singapore’s rigid zoning laws and high rents proves challenging. Therefore, temporary venues in arthouse cinemas, private homes or even basements of tower blocks are favoured by organisers.

No one knows these difficulties better than rave organiser and DJ Dean Chew. He said Singapore’s "one of the probably toughest places to get stuff done creatively. However, if you can, something beautiful and powerful comes out of it, like a flower pushing up from a crack in the concrete."